Last month, two males broke into a barn in California and stole what they thought were 50 blank CDs. They were not blank.

The owner, 54-year-old Kraig Stockard, filed a police report on Sept. 12 — but why he did that is a question we’d certainly like answered. As it turned out, some of the CDs in question contained movies and pictures of child pornography.

Once the pair of burglars — a juvenile and a 19-year-old — discovered the pornography, they found themselves faced with a tough decision. Should they save their own skins by letting the child pornography go unnoticed, or should they turn in the CDs and, thereby, themselves?

The pair decided on the latter. And good on them.

Police searched the Stockards’ home, finding three computers, three laptops and several external hard drives filled with thousands of pictures and videos depicting child pornography. Stockard was arrested and admitted to possession of the pornography.

We’d like to commend those two burglars for turning themselves in. That must have been a tough choice. Despite the fact that they broke the law, they recognized a more serious crime in progress and put a stop to it. It’s noble.

We’re not telling everyone to go rob someone’s home in an attempt to uncover something worse. Breaking the law is clearly wrong. However, it’s a proud day when we see something like this happen.

The two burglary suspects have not been arrested, but their case has been turned over to the district attorney’s office for review. If they do get arrested, all we can really say is: Judge, take it easy on them. Even though they broke the law, it’s pretty clear they’re not all bad.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.